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Lisa R
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| Posted: Dec 12 2009 at 9:06am | IP Logged
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Do you all remember the home keeping binders many of us made a couple years ago? I'm wondering how you are using them now, if you're still using them and how you may have tweaked them over the years? I'm in desparate need of organization right now! 
A little background....My dh retired from the Air Force and we moved in August from Spokane, WA to just outside of Columbus, OH. This move has completely thrown me for a loop! 
We've moved many times in dh's career but this one was so hard. Just getting used to him working "on the outside" (civilian world) has been so much harder than we thought.
Not to mention our family size doubled since our last move!  It was only 2 more children but, WOW!
All our activities are in Columbus (40 minute drive), our church is in Columbus, and there is sooo much to be involved in here. That's been quite a change and challenge as we've always lived in pretty small towns with not much going on especially with other Catholic homeschoolers.
These activities are all by choice, I know, but they are so, so good for our boys (and me  ). I've seen their faith grow by leaps and bounds in the short 4 months we've been here already.
New house, new neighborhood, new schedule, new friends, new activities, new town, involvement with extended family again (that's been interesting  ), we've been sick 4 times since we moved here (major climate change for us)....on and on. Makes a girl crazy! 
So, in a desparate attempt to get organized I've brought out my trusty homekeeping binder (which I haven't even looked at since I made it!  ). I'd really, really like to put this to use now.
I've used my own version of a planner/school planner for the past few years and it's worked pretty well. It's in it's own binder but I was thinking of putting those planner pages in my homekeeping binder instead. You know, everything in one place.
I just bought Michele's large 3 hole punched planner and printed out all the "recipes" for house cleaning products that were posted. I was thinking of using those planner pages instead of my home made ones in the big binder.
So, this was a very long-winded (sorry! ) way of saying please, please post how you use your binder. What's in it? I'm a visual kind of gal so that would sure help.
Thanks so much!! 
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God Bless!
Lisa, married to my best friend, Ray and loving my blessings Joshua (17)and Jacob(15), Hannah(7) and Rachel (5)!Holy Family Academy
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stacykay
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| Posted: Dec 12 2009 at 9:08am | IP Logged
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I would love to hear, also. I have been checking out sites and info on them just this past week (maybe it's the almost Christmas and New Year's thing...another attempt at organization!)
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Dec 12 2009 at 9:41am | IP Logged
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I use mine almost all of the time. I want to freshen it up though because it turns out there are sections I just don't personally use. You really need to make it your own - I made mine by listing out the things I wanted in there, then I added everyone else's ideas that just sounded SO COOL!
The trick for me is to have a place where it lives - where it can just sit and be open and out of the way and flipped through and not need to be put away every 5 minutes. Once I had that problem solved, it's been a constant companion!
The areas I primarily use are food substitions, ongoing and upcoming projects (I have one page with 2 pouches - one for blank cards, one for cards with upcoming projects - another page has another pouch with current projects to get completed - I use scrap paper for the cards and recycle them as the project is completed), and some contact information.
I just need to freshen it up so I'll either use the other areas or get rid of them :)
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Erin
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Lisa
If you are after some more links I have gathered some, haven't actually created a folder yet though I tend to do all my organising on excel spreadsheets, I'm happy to share them with you if you like.
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Erin
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juststartn
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Coming in on this late, but what on earth are ya'll talking about?
Rachel
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*Lindsey*
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Lurking!
I desperately need to do this, but I just want someone to hold my hand and/or show me exactly how to do it...or just do it for me.
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Lindsey
Mama to DS (11), DD(9), twin dds(7), DD (5), DS (4), DS (3), and 5 angels in heaven.
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JodieLyn
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This always seems like such a lovely idea.. one spot where you can find all the lists and routines and financial info and all that.. but.. I just can't keep up on it. I need to figure out how something like this could work on the computer.. it would need to be something that would be open all the time or something..
I use email drafts for most of my lists and such because email is open and it's easy to get to.
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All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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stefoodie
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I made one, but my problem is I want to include too much. That's me, always overcomplicating things.
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stef
mom to five
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JodieLyn
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I know what I need.. I need a program just for this.. one that will open when the computer is turned on just like IE or mail or such will.. that has popup reminders for the calender and a section for recipes and lists etc.
It has to be it's own program because otherwise it gets jumbled into other things.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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wifemommy
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| Posted: Jan 13 2010 at 9:39pm | IP Logged
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Mine sits on the top of my roll top desk. The parts that I use the most is a monthly calender that just has a line for every day...Iuse it for birthdays and anniversaries. Under health I have every child's immunization record...impressed the doc and HD with my page protected records. What ever kid is going I just grab their page. I also put the shot info sheets you get in there for every vaccine they have gotten. I have used that a lot mostly for other folks questions. I am working on the pet section. I have recipes in there but I often move the most used to a binder I have in the kitchen I have my go to recipes in the kitchen binder. I also have some inspirational articles sprinkled throughout. I need to fill out a few areas some more like finacial stuff and pets/farm animals. but I love looking at it I enjoy making it pretty it's restful in a chaotic life Annie
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Sarah M
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Lisa, How 'bout you just move back to Spokane?
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MaryM
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| Posted: Jan 13 2010 at 10:36pm | IP Logged
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juststartn wrote:
| Coming in on this late, but what on earth are ya'll talking about? |
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Since this question hasn't been answered specifically yet...
Basically, these home keeping notebooks/binders are a book that you compile which organizes all the information and details you want to have available for running a household (schedules, recipes, homemaking tips, etc.) There are many examples of them all over the web. The blog post Erin referred to right above your post is a good one to go look at. She has compiled links to some very nice examples of these notebooks from some very talented women who made them and posted about them. Going through those links will give you a good picture of what these are and how they are organized and used.
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Mary M. in Denver
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JenPre
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| Posted: Jan 14 2010 at 9:27am | IP Logged
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How timely that this was bumped! I'm in the process of brainstorming my own home keeping journal/binder. My problem is I want it to just magically appear and be ready to use! I need to sit down and focus on it and MAKE it appear!!
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Jen
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Lisa R
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Thanks, everyone for your help. I took the month of December off from school and worked on my binder and my life in general. It was wonderful. As soon as I can, I'll post some pictures on my blog (which I haven't even looked at since June!) with an explanation of what I did.
Sarah - Oh, how I would love to move back to Spokane! 
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God Bless!
Lisa, married to my best friend, Ray and loving my blessings Joshua (17)and Jacob(15), Hannah(7) and Rachel (5)!Holy Family Academy
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SimplyMom
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I have a planning binder I made a couple years ago. When I use it life is much smoother. When it sits idle so do I.
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Darcee
SimplyMom from Simply Catholic
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hylabrook1
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I have several plastic folders that are spiral bound with multiple pockets inside. Each is the equivalent of something like 8 *normal* pocket folders. They are different colors and each is for a different topic. One has the charts I made for getting through the curricula, the way I've broken things up into lessons. When I'm writing up the school assignments for the week, I go to that folder. There is another in a different color that contains sheets of what happens each day, as far as housework and outside activities. A third has handouts and schedules from classes the dc have outside the home. Then I have an engagement calendar for, well, calendaring things. All of this stuff lives in a basket that I can bring along to where I'm working on things. I know it sounds crazy to have so many folders, but when they are all kept in the same basket I don't see it as much different from a large binder that contains *everything*. This way, when I handle each sub-part of the things I need to keep written down, I'm not *living* out of one fat binder. For me this feels less overwhelming. I agree with Darcee; it's not just figuring out what needs to happen, it's actually using whatever system you come up with. For me, splitting up sub-parts into separate folders is more user friendly.
Peace,
Nancy
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CrunchyMom
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I'm actually working on compiling clipboards that I can hang up for the various "sections" of the binder. I just can't remember to use a binder and need for all the sections to be "open" at once. I'm working on a blog post that includes some aspects of this I've incorporated so far. I don't have "one" place to put all of my clipboards together, but I found these posts to be inspiring when I came up with the idea, and they inspired me that my idea was not completely crazy.
Patterned clipboards
Organizing Ideas
I have my lesson plan sheets posted on my fridge with that cute free calendar Alice Cantrell posted to take school "attendance." I have a master list of shopping lists hanging on the open side of a cabinet.
I knew I needed all the organizational elements from a binder, but a binder just hasn't worked for me.
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Lindsay
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onemoretracy
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| Posted: Jan 22 2010 at 1:31pm | IP Logged
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De-lurking to admit I rarely use mine.
This post has prompted me to get it out again. I am also evaluating why it didn't get as much use as I it would.
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: home keeping binders - long
